© 2007 Hans Peeters ...Science Art-Birds
Title: Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)
Artist:
Hans Peeters
Image size: c. 10" x 14"
Media: watercolor and gouache
Date: 2006
Location: Artist's possession.
The artist notes: "Spotted Owls are highly temperature sensitive and need
a range of microhabitats within their territories that supply various thermal options to stay cool. Old Growth coastal
forests provide ideal variety. The Northern Spotted Owl is
not only losing this habitat but is also threatened by the
invasion of the Barred Owl (Strix varia), which may compete with the
Spotted Owl, prey on it, and will also hybridize with it,
eventually obliterating its genetic identity. This image, like that of the Burrowing Owl also in this online exhibit, was
painted as a color plate for my book Owls of California and
the West (2007, University of California Press),
which discusses the conservation problems of this owl in
detail."